Sea of Thieves

[ratsoalbion]

It's out now (well, in an hour anyway - UK time that is - you can play it already if you tell your Xbox you're elsewhere in the world), and you can play it in full for free for a fortnight simply by signing up to the 14 day Game Pass trial.

I've just had my first dabble with some randoms and in seems like a lot of fun, albeit potentially lacking in variety.

[Suits]

Getting my copy from Argos later today....

Ready in time for a swashbuckling C&R Friday night !!!

I'm going into this without any expectation at all, or at least I'm trying too.

[dezm0nd]

I've been playing it for about 3-4 hours solo and it's a lot of work but entirely viable. It does miss the point of the game but there's something quite exciting about going it alone without the hassle of other people.

The in-game context sensitive chat bubbles are incredibly well done and even if you're listening to other people on their mics you can talk back although in a restricted way.

I'm really enjoying it so far but hoping the "live events" bring the game some variety after the three merchants reputations have been maxed out. I've yet to see a Kraken and i was too scared/smart to go into the skull fort on my own but this Friday night i'm hoping we get to experience a lot of way the game has to offer with 3 friendly pirates!

The final release has a better level of polish I wasn't expecting (based on the beta) and overall it feels like one of the better 1st party exclusives for the machine. Let this be the re-introduction of the developer to the games industry as they have a wealth of talent and franchises.

[Flabyo]

My experience of the beta was staring at a “please wait” spinner for half an hour and then uninstalling it so...

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Im really up for this game. Looks a while lot of fun. I’d probably buy it anyway but with Game Pass it’s a complete no-brainer.

Annoyingly I’m on holiday this week (woe is me!) so have missed launch, but definitely planning on jumping in over the weekend!

[Suits]

"Get the papers, get the papers".


I tried to get on last night but was presented with a 9GB patch for my disc copy from Argos, the download didn't take too long in fairness but I'd missed my window of opportunity to play last night.

[KSubzero1000]

"Get the papers, get the papers".

Boss reference, mate. If I'm interpreting this correctly, that is.

[Suits]

Boss reference, mate. If I'm interpreting this correctly, that is.

[dezm0nd]

The water in this game has made me feel a bit sick at times, too! Not because of the motion, but because of how believable it is despite the cartoony aesthetic.

Don't forget i'll be hosting regular Friday night game nights so pop over to the community page and have a look. No pressure to use the microphone and we'll all be nice and have a laugh. I can teach you all I know if it helps anyone get more enjoyment from this game

[Flabyo]

Are there sharks in it? I know at least one C&R regular that won’t be happy if there are

[ratsoalbion]

BIG sharks.

[Suits]

Saw my first BIG shark tonight.

Not chasing me but my mate who jumped off to investigate some floating barrels.

I was in the crows nest at the time telling him to swim faster.

Neat little game, although I can see the concerns about the potential depth of content, at the moment.

[kintaris]

Looking forward to sailing with the C&R crew later. I've made no secret on social media that my first solo experience of this was incredibly disappointing. As someone who had 100% completed Black Flag twice and played Sid Meier's Pirates obsessively as a kid, sailing from point to point and finding treasure is no longer interesting enough on its own. I also found piloting a sloop solo not quite the challenge I assumed it would be, which was also a bit disappointing. I was hoping it would be tough!

Having said that, curiously, I didn't run into a single other person in the two hours I played. Even when I joined a group session, the entire group had already left the port when I joined in and I never saw them again - and they weren't up for a chat. So I'm guessing I've had an unusual experience.

[Suits]

Yeah man, really looking forward to later and chatting to you for the first time Kintaris .

[kintaris]

Yeah man, really looking forward to later and chatting to you for the first time Kintaris .

Messed that up, didn't I!

Sorry guys, had a situation I couldn't ignore. I will definitely be around again over the next few weeks though.

[dezm0nd]

Spent an hour in the brig today... these guys banished me there instantly but I could see they were on a voyage with 5+ captain skeletons to take down. I put the controller down and let them do the work.

SMW has logged it all in one handy twitter moment

https://twitter.com/i/moments/977601219400208384

[kintaris]

Spent an hour in the brig today... these guys banished me there instantly but I could see they were on a voyage with 5+ captain skeletons to take down. I put the controller down and let them do the work.

SMW has logged it all in one handy twitter moment

https://twitter.com/i/moments/977601219400208384

Haha, such a strange game.

Finally got online with a known Xbox friend to see what it's like properly in co-op. He's only had good experiences, I've only had poor ones.

Second I get in his game, everything goes to hell. Other players tormenting us, treasures glitching into non-existence, connection choppier than the sea in a storm.

I can only apologise to Mark for bringing my curse upon him. Small consolation is that I enjoyed myself slightly more having known company to commiserate with on a squeaky accordion. The emotes/phrases are great too for when my mic decides to cut out - we did have to start chatting on Discord eventually though. So easy to lose each other on land.

One tip for beginners - get on the Gold Hoarder missions first in my opinion. It's a lot more fun finding chests than killing skeletons in the lower levels, I made the mistake of going after the skulls first while in solo mode and it was sooo boring.

I really want to like this though and I believe it's still possible. Hopefully there will be another chance to set sail with the good ship Dangleberry soon.

[countstex]

I've probably played a good 6-8 hours of this now (I'm level 10-12 in all three of the mission types), both with just myself and Linda, and also with a full crew. There are some fun moments, but all in all I have to say the game is very shallow. It feels more like a concept waiting for some meat on the bones. I've even had encounters with the Kraken, but that lacked much danger as we had little on board when it hit. The complete lack of progression in anything but cosmetic items really brings this down for me. Sure it levels the playing field but it also removes most of the motivation.
There needs to be much more flexibility in the grouping too. Why is it always a Galleon for four players, why not the option of two sloops. Or hell even let people join up in fleets.
There's a good game in here, but it's not ready yet. It's a bit like No Mans Sky was at launch, except you're stuck on a single planet.
(So strange for me to be so negative on a game, I'm almost always Mr positive.)

[kintaris]

I've probably played a good 6-8 hours of this now (I'm level 10-12 in all three of the mission types), both with just myself and Linda, and also with a full crew. There are some fun moments, but all in all I have to say the game is very shallow. It feels more like a concept waiting for some meat on the bones. I've even had encounters with the Kraken, but that lacked much danger as we had little on board when it hit. The complete lack of progression in anything but cosmetic items really brings this down for me. Sure it levels the playing field but it also removes most of the motivation.
There needs to be much more flexibility in the grouping too. Why is it always a Galleon for four players, why not the option of two sloops. Or hell even let people join up in fleets.
There's a good game in here, but it's not ready yet. It's a bit like No Mans Sky was at launch, except you're stuck on a single planet.
(So strange for me to be so negative on a game, I'm almost always Mr positive.)

I feel similarly, with added horrendous bad luck when it comes to meeting other players on my crew or off of it - they have all been griefers to a man, possibly because they are bored.

The only difference between this and No Man's Sky is obviously the latter's poor marketing, promising much more than they had. However it's pretty scant praise to say that Sea of Thieves at least hasn't broken any promises.

Far too much reliance on players scrounging together their own sense of story or purpose with so few features to play with and so little progression to motivate.

I will probably join one of the many generalist gaming clans on Discord who are currently looking for members to play Sea of Thieves, but I don't feel like I should have to do that to be honest. There must be a lot of players who wouldn't begin to understand how to find and join such things.

A real shame. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was something more than this.

[kintaris]

Finally had a consistently good session with a colleague of mine on a two-man sloop. We got lost in a storm, washed up on an island with two messages in bottles and a Captain's Crate. Followed the messages to an arduous pitched battle against boss skeletons and a huge hoard of chests.

All in all, a lot of fun - but, we didn't come across a hell of a lot of other players. I think that eased off the griefing aspect somewhat but the world felt pretty empty as a result. Somewhere in the core of all this is a fantastic experience, I feel like I'm just skirting around the surface of it at the moment.